In many industries it is necessary to closely monitor the composition or specific properties of a material during processing of the material. For example, during the processing of cheese, it is necessary to monitor the ratios of proteins, oils and water to meet government standards, as well as to make a quality product. Since most materials being processed are constantly changing due to additions of various components, mixing, drying, etc., it can be extremely difficult to monitor quality on a real-time basis.
In current technology, it is frequently necessary to remove a sample from a process line to a testing laboratory to determine these ratios or other characteristics. The test results are generally unavailable for several hours. Therefore, if there is any problem with the target characteristics, another several hours worth of the product may have already been made.
Further sampling must then be obtained from the product that may even be already packaged to determine if the product is within target. If the product is out of limits, it must then be recycled or destroyed in order to prevent violation of Federal packaging laws and/or to prevent customer dissatisfaction. Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus to allow real-time in-line monitoring of a material during its processing.